Chair,

I would like to congratulate you on your election as the Chair of the 67th session of the COPUOS. The Chinese delegation will actively support your work and work together to bring this session to a successful conclusion. We would also like to thank Ms. Aarti Holla-Maini, Director of the UNOOSA, for her efforts in preparing for the session. China aligns itself with the statement made by Colombia on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

Chair,

The COPUOS was established 65 years ago by the GA in its resolution 1472 (XIV), along with the beginning of humankind's quest for the exploration of outer space. Over the past 65 years, the COPUOS, as the intergovernmental multilateral platform with the widest participation in the peaceful uses of outer space, has kept abreast of the times, faithfully discharged its duties and played an important role in promoting global governance of the peaceful uses of outer space, shaping and developing the legal regime of outer space and promoting international cooperation in outer space.

65 years later, the development of space science and technology and applications has greatly enhanced the well-being of humankind and, at the same time, brought new issues and challenges to global governance of outer space. New types of outer space activities are emerging, multiple actors are involved, the space technology gap affects the level of national participation, and a few countries are attempting to organize exclusive "small circles" to serve their own selfish interests.

China unequivocally advocates that the international community should adhere to genuine multilateralism, maintain the international order in outer space underpinned by the Outer Space Treaty, support the role of the COPUOS as the main platform, promote the strengthening of international cooperation in outer space on the basis of mutual respect, openness and inclusiveness, focusing on the common interests of all parties. In particular, we should ensure the right of developing countries to the peaceful uses of space science and technology and promote the development of space technology to help realize the goals of sustainable development.

Chair,

China actively participated in the 61st session of the S&T Subcommittee and the 63rd session of the Legal Subcommittee and is pleased to see that the two subcommittees and their working groups have efficiently advanced their work in accordance with the law on outer space and their respective mandates, thus facilitating the conduct of relevant space activities in a lawful and orderly manner for the benefit of all countries. Noting that the Legal Subcommittee was unable to adopt a formal report at its 63rd session, we call on all States to focus on the peaceful uses of outer space and to continue to advocate the "Vienna spirit" and make COPUOS a more equitable, mutually beneficial and inclusive platform for cooperation.

China, like many member States and some international organizations, is paying close attention to the challenges posed by low-orbit mega-satellite constellations and supports the COPUOS in carrying out more focused discussions on this issue, including, but not limited to, strengthening and improving the registration of constellations to ensure that constellations are in line with the sustainable use of orbits and frequencies and that they maintain the accessibility of outer space.

Chair,

Over the past year, China's space industry has made a series of new advances. At the same time, China, adhering to the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, has actively put into practice the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping. We have actively advocated the peaceful use of outer space, shared the benefits of development with all countries and vigorously carried out international cooperation in outer space.

The Chinese space station has entered a phase of routine operation, and China has continued to cooperate with the UNOOSA and relevant countries and international organizations in such areas as space science experiments, astronaut selection and training, and payload carrying. The BeiDou global satellite navigation system has continued to operate stably, and its service performance has been further enhanced, enabling it to provide all-weather, all-time, high-precision positioning, navigation and timing services to users around the world. Launched in May this year, the Chang'e 6 lunar probe successfully completed the world's first sampling and takeoff from the far side of the Moon. Chang'e-6 also carried international payloads from Pakistan, France, Italy and ESA in a joint scientific exploration. The International Lunar Research Station project has signed cooperation documents with a dozen countries and more than 20 foreign scientific research institutions, and we welcome the joint participation of interested countries, international organizations and partners.

In April this year, the first China-Latin America and Caribbean States Space Cooperation Forum was successfully held in Wuhan, China. Participants from 38 countries, regions and international organizations attended the Forum. The Forum adopted Wuhan Declaration -- Space promotes the building a community of shared future for common progress between China and Latin American and Caribbean States, released joint initiatives in seven areas, including the sharing of space science, technology and applications, space education and training. We were also pleased to host Ms. Aarti Holla-Maini, Director of the UNOOSA, during her first visit to China and her participation in related activities.

Chair,

In recent years, threats and challenges to security in outer space have continued to increase. Preventing the weaponization of and an arms race in outer space is an important prerequisite for ensuring the peaceful, quiet and sustainable use of outer space. At the same time, a balanced approach should be taken in dealing with the relationship between security and the peaceful use of outer space. Individual countries are not to be allowed to exaggerate and misuse "security threats" to influence and interfere in the equal enjoyment of the right of developing countries and emerging space-faring nations to the peaceful uses of outer space. The Chinese delegation looks forward to working actively and constructively with all parties during this session on the various important issues of the Conference, so as to make greater contributions to the peaceful uses of outer space and global governance of outer space, and to join hands in promoting the building of a community of a shared future for mankind in the field of outer space.

Thank you, Chair.